Yagna Balaji takes over from Ninan Thariyan as CEO of DT Next
Balaji is the founder-editor of the DT Next newspaper and the website dtnext.in as well as the paper’s other social media and online properties
Yagna Balaji has been appointed CEO of DT Next, an English daily from Tamil Nadu's Daily Thanthi group. She was the Founder-Editor of the DT Next newspaper and the website dtnext.in as well as the paper’s other social media and online properties. She takes over from Ninan Thariyan, a media veteran who was earlier with the Times of India.
In her new role, Yagna will be responsible for the company’s increasing investment in the digital space, advertising, brand strategy as well as steering the company’s growth objectives to a niche positioning and reader connect.
A journalist with two decades in the field, Yagna was instrumental in the launch of the Deccan Chronicle newspaper in Tamil Nadu in 2005. Under her leadership, Tamil Nadu’s first tabloid, Chennai Chronicle was launched. A decade later in 2015, she once again launched a brand new city-focused newspaper for Chennai – DT Next. In a short time, DT Next has built a young and loyal readership and is poised for growth across the state. Investigative reports, hard-hitting stories and a reader-first approach have been instrumental in the paper’s success.
A seasoned communications professional, Yagna has led workshops on developing communication skills and has also been the recipient of awards for articles on developmental journalism. She has served on panels of graduate-level media study programs to promote ethical journalism. Yagna Balaji is also a member of the WAN Ifra World Editors Forum, South East Asia chapter.
